Subspace
by Twili-Marth
Summary: Nothing could have prepared him for this seemingly chance encounter with the one person he never thought he'd see again. It it too good to be true? (I'm awful at writing summaries, please just read it.) **Warning: character death** Rated T to be completely safe.


**Part 1- Marth**

I wander through the forest with no clear idea as to where I'm going, half-hoping that I will stumble upon something important. By this time I have lost track of how long I've been in this maze, pushing my way through countless challenges in a seemingly aimless pattern of fighting and running.  
I'm about to give up and call someone else out to take my place so I can rest when I realize that my surroundings suddenly seem unfamiliar. Stranger still, I can see a faint sort of glow out of the corner of my eyes. I turn to see what exactly it is, expecting a fire or some sort of creature, but it's nothing but a light. A light that seems to be brightening by the second.  
The glow grows more and more intense, until I have to shield my eyes for fear of being blinded. As soon as it dies down and I bring myself to look again, my heart skips a beat and I step back in surprise. The light has taken a solid form- to be more precise, the form of the one person I never expected to see again.  
"Hey," says Roy, grinning at me like everything is perfectly normal.  
"_W-Wakarimasen!_" I feel ridiculous, but all I can do is stand there and stare in utter disbelief. Roy had been excluded, disappeared from our universe, yet here he is- in this Subspace maze, of all places- smiling like he always used to.  
"Did I do something wrong?" He frowns slightly.  
"No! It's just, how in all of Archanea did you manage to end up here? You were gone!" The logical side of my brain doubts that he is even real; after all, I would put nothing past this strange world after all I have encountered.  
"I don't know," Roy admits as he fiddles with his sword, transferring it from one hand to the other and back again. "Where is everyone else?"  
"_Etto#_..." I reach back and unfasten the necklace with the bird on the end from around my neck, displaying it to him in the palm of my hand. "Right now I'm the only one here, but I can use this to call someone else to take my place if I have to."  
"That's convenient." Roy is obviously itching to make a taunting comment about me wearing jewelry, but resists the urge.  
"Anyway, I'm a little lost at the moment." I carefully put the necklace back on, casting a wary glance around.  
"Right!" His grin grows larger. "I came to help!" Reaching into the bag at his belt, he pulls out a tattered piece of paper and unfolds it.  
"Is that a map?" I step around him to read over his shoulder.  
"_Hai_! It's a magic map. Of course, it can only show wherever you've already been."  
"It's very complicated." The map is laid out as a series of rectangles representing each room, connected by lines to show which rooms lead into which. Then my eyes land on something strange, a sort of blurry red mark that almost looks like the face of some creature. "What's this?"  
"It looks like you're already pretty far through this maze. I guess I'm late... well, you've fought a bunch of shadows already, right? Shadows that look like everybody?" Roy seems to have the answer to everything. I'm beginning to think that somebody sent him here with the purpose of relaying all this information, but why? There are enough of us already, even if we don't always know what we're doing.  
"Right," I respond, watching his face carefully. His eyes, blue like my own but darker and more forbidding, give nothing away.  
"I think this spot marks the last shadow!"  
"You _think_?" A solid answer would be preferable.  
"We're close to the door," he goes on, ignoring my comment.  
"You carry the map, then. I'll trust you to give directions."  
"Well, okay. Bossy," he mutters under his breath.  
"I heard that."  
"Meh."  
It hardly takes any time for us to get around with Roy reading directions and me fending off Primids and whatever else jumps in our way. Eventually we end up inside the castle where I first encountered the Primids, the one meant to mimic my home. Even though this is Subspace, and the ground is soaked and littered with arrows, the place still feels familiar.  
"Down here." Snapping me out of thoughts of home, Roy leads us down yet another ladder, through a passageway I must have missed when I passed through here before. Sure enough, at the end there is a door tainted by darkness just like all of the others I have encountered this far.  
"I'll admit it, you're very useful," I tell Roy honestly as I slice through the two Fire Primids guarding the door. They burst into flames and explode, leaving the sound ringing in my ears for a few moments afterward.  
"Hey!" a voice suddenly hisses. I jump and whirl around, taking a while to realize that my necklace is speaking to me. Not only that, but that muffled voice is familiar.  
"Link?" I yank it off and stare hard at it, hoping the call wasn't just my imagination.  
"Yep, it's me!" responds the voice on the other end seconds after. "So this thing does work!"  
"Wait, are you talking to Link?" Roy runs over with an excited shout of "Link! Remember me?"  
"Roy, is that you? What are you doing there? How did you-"  
"It's a long story," I cut in and shot Roy a glare, warning him to keep his mouth shut. "What's going on?"  
"It turns out that we have a communicator that allows us to speak through the necklace," the Hylian explains, returning to a more serious tone. "It would have been nice to know before, b- hey! No, wait-"  
Link's protests grow faint, and then are quickly replaced by another, feminine voice.  
"Don't just stand there!" it commands impatiently. "Get a move on before I come out there and do it myself!"  
"Okay, okay, Sheik! I'm going!"  
"Good." There is a brief crackling sound as the connection is broken, and the necklace goes silent.

"And people tell me _I'm_ scary when I'm irritated." Shaking my head, I replace the necklace once again. "Come on, Roy." Without further hesitation, I run to the door and throw it open.

The room we find ourselves in is the same as all the others have been, a small stage with two platforms just low enough to jump onto, suspended in endless space. Nothing seems particularly special about it.

Except for the figure that stands center stage, smirking at me and Roy.

"Oh-" gasps my companion.

My opponent... is me. That is, a dark, sinister copy of me, a shadow that would like nothing more than to spill my blood.

"_Daijoubu?_" it mocks in my voice, pointing its sword- my Falchion, swirling with evil aura- tauntingly at us. I stand there in frozen silence, trying to process the situation. I should have seen this coming, but here I am, completely unprepared and shocked beyond words.

"Go!" urges Roy, going so far as to give me a tiny, commanding shove.

"_Nandesuka_?" I choke out weakly, having nothing good to say. There is nothing I want less than to have to fight myself.

"Move it, Lowell!" He pushes harder, this time forcing me to stumble forward. "I'll be right behind you the whole time. I swear it."

"No..." Forcing myself out of my confused trance, I draw Falchion and face the shadowy version of myself. "Go back to the door and stay there."

"_Saa_..." The shadow takes a single step forward, and then lifts its head and cries, "_Shinu_!" before lunging forward, every bit as fast and light on its feet as I am. I raise Falchion to block the attack, refusing to flinch under the strength of the blow. Knocking its blade aside, I quickly slash upwards with a counterattack. The shadow snarls with pain and fury and springs

backwards. I take advantage of the situation and charge, managing to land one attack before it puts up its shield. Too late I realize how close I am and try to roll to the side. In an instant the shadow drops its shield and seizes my cape.  
"I'm coming to help!" Roy draws his own sword and starts to advance.  
"Stay. Back," is all I can get out before my shadow rams its knee up into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me and sending pain exploding through my torso. With every bit of strength I can find, I jerk backwards, managing to wrench free of its grip. Struggling to regain my balance and still gasping for breath, I barely manage to put up my shield in time for the shadow's dark Falchion to come crashing down on it. The shadow, which hadn't been anticipating this, staggered slightly and gave me the opening to roll behind it and slam my sword's hilt into the back of its head. It falls hard, unconscious when it hits the ground, and I refuse to allow it any time to recover, planting my foot firmly on its back and pressing the tip of Falchion's blade against its neck "_Gomennasai#_," I whisper softly, closing my eyes and preparing to land the final blow.  
But I can't do it.

I can't destroy my own shadow, even as twisted and vile as this version may be. For some reason, I can't bring myself to finish it as easily as I did all the others I've fought so far. I sheathe Falchion and kneel down, rolling the shadowy figure over. I feel almost like I'm staring into a mirror, with my own familiar face there before me, with a calm expression I never would have expected to see on such a monster.

"No, no! Get back!" Roy shouts, his voice panicked.

"_Na_-" I start.

My question is never finished, because in that very moment, the shadow's eyes flash open and it thrusts its sword upward.

**Part Two- Roy**

I don't want to believe what my eyes are showing me. All I feel is disbelief as the shadow stands and yanks its blade from Marth's body and he crumples limply to the ground. My mind is a confused blur, unable to understand what's going on as my legs move of their own accord. They carry me towards the shadow faster than I've ever run before, and my arms raise my sword and plunge it through the shadowy demon from behind. As if that wasn't enough, I reach out with my free hand and grab the shadow as its legs give out, wheeling around the throw it over the edge of the stage with strength I never knew I had.  
I suddenly jerk back to my senses with a moan, collapsing onto my knees and dropping my sword as my mind registers everything. Marth is still lying just inches away, compelling me to crawl over to him. My shaking hands reach out and fumble with the Subspace necklace, unclasping it and drawing it to me.  
"Link?" I try calling, my voice hoarse and painful. No response greets me. "Marth... you need help." Glancing at him, I see that his hair has fallen into his eyes and weakly push it away. His eyes are blank and half-closed. There is no light in their ultramarine depths.  
Seeing this, I feel something inside me snap.  
"Marth!" I scream, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently, with no reaction. "_Mewosamasu! MEWOSAMASU!_" My attention darts to the necklace. "LINK!"  
The echo of my voice is all that greets me, ringing tauntingly through the endless stretch of space.

-

"Link, what's wrong?" Princess Zelda watches the Hero of Time worriedly, noticing his sudden silence and the change in his expression.  
"I don't know, but I have a feeling I don't like," said Link vaguely, reaching for the communicator. "Marth? Are you there?"

-

"Hello? Hello?"  
I sit bolt upright, realizing with a jolt that I must have passed out. The necklace is still in my hand, vibrating; releasing my death grip on it, I stare at it a moment before responding, "Link... I need you here. Please."  
"What? Roy? Why? Where's Mar-"  
"NOW! Please!" I repeat desperately.  
"O-okay." Link materializes before me in the blink of an eye. When he takes in the scene his eyes widen and I realize that I must look horrific, absolutely terrified and covered in blood.  
Marth's blood.  
"Roy, what in the name of Farore happened?"  
"Th-the shadow! It was so strong, and he couldn't- and it- and he's-" I ramble like a crazy person, unable to form complete sentences. I have a pounding headache now, and the smell of blood is overwhelming.  
"You mean..." Link can't seem to bring himself to voice it either, but the pain in his eyes says that he understands everything. "Come on. I'll get you out of here."  
"I'm not leaving Marth." Childishly, I give Link a stubborn glare.  
"Of course not." The Hylian smiles weakly. There is nothing in that smile. It is empty.  
He transports us- all three of us- to the sunny, grassy area where everyone else is waiting.  
"They're back!" calls a voice unfamiliar to me, and a strange brown-haired boy with white feathered wings runs up to Link. "What's going on?"  
"Things are looking bad," says Link, glancing back and stepping aside to give everyone a clear view of me and Marth.  
"What's Roy doing here?" someone whispers. Murmurs ripple through the crowd, and then a gasp of "Marth!" rings out. Throughout all this I refuse to let go of Marth, ignoring the criticizing stares and the painful lack of warmth in the Altean prince's body.  
Zelda, looking as if she might faint, holds a hand up to her mouth. "No, I don't believe this. Out of all of us..."  
"I thought we couldn't die in Subspace!" declares the winged boy, glaring accusingly at Link. "That's what YOU said!"  
"Was that a lie?" joined in another voice, and the crowd erupted into noise.  
"All of you... SHUT UP!" I explode as I release Marth and leap to my feet, refusing to put up with the arguing. "You're all being selfish! You worry about yourselves, what _could_ be. Don't you give a d- about what _is_? Marth worked himself to the bone to navigate this maze. Can any of you say the same about yourselves?"  
Silence.  
"That's what I thought."  
"He's right." Zelda steps in. "Now, there was no dishonesty when we told you that you could not really die here. That was what we sincerely thought, but it seems as if now something has changed."  
"Actually, Princess- if you don't mind me interrupting- I think I have an idea," says the boy with wings that I don't recognize.  
"Go on, Pit." Zelda nods her permission and he goes on:  
"It's common knowledge to us that within this maze, there were shadowy incarnations of ourselves, right? I think that when your own shadow is destroyed, then you become mortal. Therefore, if you are mortally wounded and someone kills your shadow, then you will probably die."  
"That would mean this is all my fault, then..." I don't want to even consider this idea, but there's too much logic supporting it. If I had just held off on killing the shadow for a little while, then Marth could have recovered.  
"No, Roy, don't tell yourself that. Don't even think about it. This isn't your fault," insists Zelda.  
"We still have so much to do," I groan, burying my face in my hands. "So much to deal with."  
As if it would comfort me, I glance back towards Marth, only to be met with yet another surprise.  
He has disappeared.


End file.
